Crucifixion
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: Kurt has some questions after a traumatic experience
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: I'm evil... 'Nuff said  
  
*** Everyone at the mansion was very worried for one of their newest teammates. Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler had gone out two days ago, and they heard nothing from him since. Xavier had tried several times to find him with Cerebro, but for some reason he couldn't find Kurt anywhere with it! It was as if Kurt had simply vanished from the face of the Earth!  
  
They decided to go out and try to see if they could find Kurt in the town, but no one could figure out where he could have gone off to, or why he never came back for that matter.  
  
Logan remembered the day Kurt went out and he knew that he had only meant to be away for a little while.  
  
Something had happened to Kurt, and Logan was ready to kill whoever had messed with one of the few people he called friend. ***  
Kurt had gotten the idea to go out when Xavier gave him the image inducer.  
  
Xavier had called Kurt into his office at around noon. A few seconds later, Kurt teleported into the room, crouching down in a chair with his tail swaying side to side like a lazy cat.  
  
"Yes, teacher?" he asked, tilting his head to one side, his tail flicking to the same side with the spade tip angled like his head. Xavier couldn't help but laugh softly at the young man's attitude towards like. It seemed that every time he saw him Kurt was smiling or laughing as he told a joke or performed to make his other teammates relax and laugh.  
  
The boy had a knack for making people forget their problems for a while.  
  
"Kurt, do you remember what we spoke about? Back in Winzledorf?" Xavier asked. Cocking an eyebrow, Kurt nodded faintly.  
  
"[i]Ja?[/i]" he asked. "Why do you asked, teacher?"  
  
"You asked if I could help you to be normal." Xavier said. Kurt snorted softly, shaking his head faintly.  
  
"Teacher, when I asked that, it wasn't as if I... I mean... Ach, I cannot explain in English!" Kurt said in frustration.  
  
"Try in your native tongue." Xavier offered gently. "I'll understand everything you say to me."  
  
"[i]When I asked that, it wasn't because I was ashamed of what I was, what I am.[/i]" Kurt explained. "[i]I asked because sometimes I want to go outside and not be forced to cover up in wide brimmed hats and trench coats! Do you know why I left my family in the circus? Because the man who bought it tried to put me in the freak show! My friends who were part of it told him I was the star acrobat, but he ignored them and said that with my looks, I belonged in the freak show![/i]"  
  
"I understand what you meant, Kurt." Xavier said with a smile. "And I have an answer to your earlier question." Rolling around his desk, Xavier held out an ornate watch to Kurt. Slipping the watch on, Kurt looked at it and cocked an eyebrow at Xavier.  
  
"What does it do?" he asked. "Or is it a simple watch?" Xavier laughed, shaking his head slightly.  
  
"It's called an image inducer." He explained. "When you press that red button it covers your body in a hologram."  
  
"A hologram?"  
  
"With an image of a human version of yourself." Xavier nodded with a smile. Cocking his head to one side, Kurt pressed the button. He gasped when he saw his hands become milk white, the fingers in two pairs to show where his original two were meant to be."  
  
"[i]Unglaublich![/i]" he whispered.  
  
"Go look at yourself in the mirror." Xavier said. Nodding, Kurt got up and walked over to a mirror and he gasped.  
  
He was staring at a young man of seventeen. His face was the same, and yet it wasn't. His eyes were normal, but they were the same golden hue. Laughing, Kurt ran a hand through his cobalt hair. Resting his hands on his hips, he smiled and tilted his head to one side.  
  
"Ach, I may be human, but I am not as handsome!" he said over his shoulder. "Pity!"  
  
"The image inducer will help you go outside without worrying about mobs with pitch forks and torches coming after you." Xavier said.  
  
"May I go out now, teacher?" Kurt asked.  
  
"I don't see why not." Laughing, Kurt surprised Xavier by hugging him suddenly.  
  
"[i]Danke![/i]" he said before he teleported out of the room. ***  
Logan was in the kitchen, downing his second beer when he saw someone who looked like Kurt walk by the doorway. Cocking an eyebrow, he got up and went after him.  
  
"Hey!" he called. "Who the hell are you, bub? How did you get in here?" The man stopped and laughed, turning around to face him.  
  
"Logan, don't you recognize me?" he asked. "Use your nose!" Logan's nostrils flared and he was very confused.  
  
"You smell like Kurt but..."  
  
"Will this help?" Kurt pressed the button, lowering his hologram to reveal his true form.  
  
"Elf? How did you do that?" Logan asked.  
  
"It's a watch teacher gave me." Kurt said, showing it to him. "I can go outside without any real hassles or worries about mobs coming after me now!" Logan snorted softly, keeping his opinions to himself for the moment regarding the device.  
  
"I'm going out for a while." Kurt said. "Would you like to come with me?"  
  
"Nah, I'll leave you to explore your freedom by yourself, Elf. Just make sure you're not late for our hide and go seek match!" Kurt smiled, nodding a bit as his tail swayed happily.  
  
"I'll see you later then!"  
  
That was the last time Logan and anyone else saw him. 


	2. What Happened?

As he walked down the streets, Logan tried to think of where Kurt would go with his new disguise. He really didn't know anything about the guy except that he was German and was a lot smarter than he let on sometimes.  
  
He went to all of the old movie plazas first, after he found out that their specialty was movies like "Captain Blood" and "Robin Hood", the ones with the Nazi sympathizer that Kurt seemed to idolize. He described the hologram of Kurt to all of the tellers and it turned out that Kurt hadn't gone to the movies.  
  
He tried as many stores as he could, having split the job up with the rest of the team.  
  
Tilting his head up slightly, Logan took a deep breath and tried to catch even a particle of Kurt's scent.  
  
He got Ororo's scent instead as she walked up and touched his shoulder lightly, looking around.  
  
"A woman says she met our friend in the park." She said. "He was being his charming self when he heard a child weeping. He left her to help the child find her parents."  
  
"Did she say where they were headed?" Logan asked.  
  
"She said they went over to the older part of town." She answered. "I think something may have happened over there."  
  
"Then let's go." ***  
The older part of town was filled with abandoned and condemned buildings. There were a few people around and a few of them remembered a young man being led towards the old church by a little girl.  
  
"Why would the child lead Kurt to an old church?" Ororo asked.  
  
"I'm not sure." Logan said, tilting his head back and sniffing the air. His eyes suddenly grew wide and with an enraged growl he ran towards the church.  
  
"Logan! Logan, what is it?" Ororo shouted, running after him.  
  
"Blood!" Logan said, unleashing his claws. "And lots of it!" He sliced through the locks and smashed open the door, the smell of blood hitting him like a fist in the gut.  
  
Someone had taken down the figure of Christ from the large cross that hung above the altar.  
  
They replaced the figure with Kurt.  
  
His body was trembling badly and down his arms and chest was blood. His side had been cut with something small that still drew enough blood to cover his bare abs. Barbed wire had been made into a crown and it was piercing Kurt's head, small lines of blood falling into his eyes and onto his lips.  
  
Kurt's head lolled to one side and when he opened his eyes slowly, he made a whimpering sound like an animal.  
  
"Help me take him down!" Logan said, using his claws to cut the cords that kept the cross up. Ororo tried to use her powers and when she found that she couldn't, she looked at her hands in surprise.  
  
"Ororo!" Logan shouted. Shaking her head, Ororo ran up and helped catch the cross, lowering it down gently. Logan removed the barbed wire and held Kurt's head in both of his hands.  
  
"Breathe, Kurt!" he hissed. "You have to breathe!" Kurt whimpered something in German and Logan shook his head. "I don't understand you! I only know Northern German! English, Kurt!"  
  
"Hurts..." Kurt cried. "Chest... and hands!"  
  
"What are we going to do about the nails?" Ororo asked.  
  
"Try to get them out of the wood, but leave them in his hands and feet." Logan said.  
  
"Leave them in?"  
  
"Trust me."  
  
Ororo worked as fast and as carefully as she could. She winced when she finally got his hands free. The nails were long and looked like fangs from an animal. When he had his feet free, Logan carefully cradled him in his arms as if he was a sleeping child and not a bloody young man.  
  
"Are you sure we should leave the nails in?" she asked, looking at Kurt worriedly.  
  
"For a while I lived in Sri Lanka." Logan said, heading for the doors. "These things happened a lot out there." ***  
They had to call Hank in to get him to help with Kurt's wounds. Kurt needed shots to avoid getting any major infections and the minor ones were treated with peroxide. His hands and feet were worked on the most, wrapped in peroxide soaked in bandages when it was all done.  
  
The one thing everyone wanted to know was what the hell happened to him. Xavier assured them that he would find out when Kurt's body and mind were strong enough to give them the answer to that.  
  
Maybe Xavier could wait, but Jean couldn't. She could feel pain coming from Kurt's mind and she needed to see what happened to make it stop for him.  
  
She snuck into the med lab while everyone was sleeping. Kurt was making noises in his sleep; whimpering and flinching at something only he could see. Jean walked up beside him and rested her hands on his temples, closing her eyes in deep concentration.  
  
Gasping, she screamed as the memories came flooding into her. Her powers went berserk and everyone in the mansion was woken up as they also saw Kurt's memories from the day he left in their mind's eyes. ***  
Kurt was walking down the sidewalk, smiling at everyone who passed him by without giving him a second glance.  
  
Well... Except for a few beautiful ladies.  
  
Kurt winked at a black haired woman who he saw staring at him. He couldn't help but laugh aloud at his situation.  
  
No one was screaming in terror, no one was getting ready to kill him, and better still, the women here were quite lovely.  
  
He had always loved nature and he remembered Scott saying that the park here was really nice. He went to the park, looking up at the green trees with a smile as children and young people passed him by.  
  
He tilted his head to one side as he heard two girls talking.  
  
"Men are such pigs!" a red-haired woman said to her brunette friend.  
  
"Oh I agree. I'll never go out with another man for as long as I live!" her friend agreed. "They're rude, obnoxious, and always horny!"  
  
"Ach, surely not all men are like that!" Kurt sat down beside the brunette, his eyebrows raised slightly. "I mean [i]ja[/i], some men are pigs but not all of us."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Ach, where are my manners?" Kurt laughed. Taking the brunette's hand, he kissed it lightly. "My name is Kurt Wagner,[i]liebe[/i]." They couldn't help but laugh softly at Kurt's charm.  
  
"You see? Not all men are such pigs!" he said. Standing up, he held out his hand to the brunette. "May I walk you around the park?" Smiling, she took his hand and nodded, letting this handsome German young man lead the way.  
  
"Tell me, who is the fiend who has upset you?" Kurt asked. "And what has he done to make such a lovely mouth frown so?"  
  
"Oh it was an old boyfriend of mine." She said. "He tried to win me back with a Taco Bell coupon!" Kurt raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking at her with such a strong expression of confusion and shock that she just had to laugh at how cute he looked.  
  
"That's exactly what I thought!" she said. "My name is Halle by the way."  
  
"Halle, a woman of your beauty deserves more than a coupon!" Kurt said. "Back in Germany a woman of your beauty would be showered in splendid gifts from the best in chocolate to the loveliest of flowers!" Looking around, he found a flowering tree and he took down a few flowers and placed them behind her ears.  
  
"You really know how to charm women!" Halle laughed. Smiling, Kurt shrugged.  
  
"It is what I do." He said. "I..."  
  
That's when they heard the child weeping.  
  
Frowning in concern, Kurt looked around and they found a little girl sobbing behind a bush.  
  
"What's the matter, honey?" Halle asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"I can't find my mommy or my daddy!" she said. She looked up at Kurt and instantly took his hand. "Will you take me home?" she asked, looking into his eyes very intently.  
  
"If you can show me the way." Kurt said gently.  
  
"I can, but I only want [i]you[/i] to take me!" Gently Kurt picked her up, looking at Halle with a faint smile.  
  
"Perhaps we will meet again?" he asked. Halle nodded, smiling at him.  
  
"Take her home safely."  
  
"I will." ***  
Kurt was a little worried about the place the little girl was leading him to. It was so decrepit and old... She would be better off somewhere else. Perhaps he could take her back to where he lived? There were a lot of nice people there to help her! There was this nice woman with white hair who knew the best games and...  
  
But she insisted that she wanted to go to her home. It was an old church, and Kurt was surprised at how seriously she wanted to go there.  
  
When they went inside, there were candles lit all over and a cross was lying on the ground with large nails waiting beside it.  
  
"What?"  
  
In a flash the girl drew a knife and struck him in the side, drawing blood and making him stagger back, looking at her in surprise and horror.  
  
A metal bar struck him in the small of the back, knocking him onto his knees. Whoever had struck him used the bar to pull his head back, holding it by both ends and pressing it against his throat.  
  
A man dressed in black walked up and looked down at him with cold gray eyes.  
  
"He doesn't look like a mutant, Clara." He said.  
  
"He's wearing a disguise." The child said. "His watch!" Kurt's image inducer was removed and the man in black smiled as his true form was revealed.  
  
"Perfect." Kurt lashed out with his tail, knocking the man holding him over and running for the door, too scared to teleport at the moment  
  
The bar was thrown as hard as it could be and it hit him upside the head, knocking him down with a thud and a clatter. ***  
His head was throbbing when he woke up. He found himself looking at Clara and he moved to back up when he found that he was bound to something. Turning his head to one side he found that he was bound to the cross.  
  
"Untie me." He told Clara. "Why are you doing this to me? What is going on here?"  
  
"They said I could find a replacement." She said simply.  
  
"Replacement?"  
  
"Clara is also a mutant." The man in black said. "She can spot other mutants and identify their powers. We were going to use Clara for the crucifixion but we decided to let her find someone else. You'll do much better!" Closing his eyes, Kurt tried to teleport and he found that he couldn't.  
  
"What did you do to me?" he whispered.  
  
"This stops all mutant powers." The man said, showing him a vial of glowing green liquid. "It comes from a lovely plant. Nature's answer to its own mistake really. Remarkable!"  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Kurt asked, pulling on his bonds.  
  
"Mutants need to have their sins paid for." The man said. "Another crucifixion is needed to wash your sins clean and make you acceptable in the Eyes of God."  
  
"Jesus all ready did that for us." Kurt said.  
  
"He died for [i]humans[/i]. Jesus was like a [i]human[/i] so he died for [i]humans[/i] A [i]mutant[/i] is needed to die for [i]mutants[/i]!"  
  
"You're crazy." Shrugging, the man took the crown and pressed it down on Kurt's head, making him cry out in pain.  
  
"You have me mistaken for someone who cares! Now just let yourself be crucified! How else will you mutants be Saved?" Stepping back, he gave his men the go ahead. Kurt tried to fight, but the barbs bit into his flesh and soon the nails did too.  
  
He howled like an animal, his head thrown back and his tail thrashing around like a whip. ***  
Jean collapsed, her body trembling from the intense pain and images that had just gone through her. Kurt's body was still thrashing around, screaming wildly as his arms flailed at his foes that nailed him down. When Jean got to her feet, he suddenly became very still, his tail falling limp.  
  
"Jean, what have you done?" Looking up, Jean found Xavier in the doorway, looking at Kurt fearfully. 


	3. Help

Something had happened to Kurt's mind when Jean connected to him that night. It could no longer be reached by a simple tap like it usually could. When Xavier tried to enter it gently without any physical contact, all he saw was blackness.  
  
"What did I do to him, professor?" Jean asked weakly after Xavier failed another gentle connection.  
  
"I think you somehow snapped his mind." Xavier said. "When you connected with him his body was not yet ready to deal with the memories and traumas that occurred during those two days away from here. His mind was snapped away from his body."  
  
"Is there a way that you can bring him back?" Jean asked.  
  
"I don't know." Xavier admitted. "He's deep in there."  
  
"This is all my fault! I only wanted to stop the pain that was coming from him!" Jean said.  
  
"I understand that, but you should have listened to me when I told you that I would deal with it on my own. Your impatience may have cost Kurt his life; if not his very sanity!" Shaking his head, Xavier looked at Kurt. "Tell the others to stay out of here no matter what happens or how long I stay in here. That also goes for you too, Jean." He added with a severe glance. "I don't want you breaking any more of my rules about this. If something should go wrong, I don't need anyone else getting hurt."  
  
When Jean left the room, she found the others waiting to hear about Kurt's condition.  
  
"The professor is going to try and bring Kurt back. He says that no matter what happens or how long it takes him, we need to stay out of there." She said.  
  
Xavier just looked down at Kurt, his brows knitted slightly. What he was going to try was dangerous for himself as well as Kurt. He called it submerging because it felt like he was diving into water and if he didn't get out at the right moment; he and the person he was connected to would end up drowning, leaving their bodies empty and their souls and minds lost.  
  
Slowly, Xavier rested a hand on Kurt's brow, feeling that the fur was covered in cold sweat.  
  
"Come on, Kurt..." he whispered, closing his eyes. "I need you to try and come back to me..." ***  
When Xavier submerged into Kurt's mind, it was warm and very inviting, unlike any mind he had ever entered before. Most minds have strong walls and were cold and harsh towards anyone entering it, but Kurt's was warm and had no walls or defenses against people going in.  
  
He went through layers of absolute blackness, forcing Xavier to push harder than he had ever done before.  
  
He called out Kurt's name over and over again, trying to find a trace of Kurt's mind.  
  
Xavier pushed harder and stronger with his power and he finally broke through the blackness, finding himself in a forest.  
  
"This is where you lived with your family isn't it, Kurt?" he asked, slowly starting to walk through the trees. "Kurt, I need you to answer me! Where are you?" Kurt sounded very reluctant when he finally answered him.  
  
"[i]I am over here, teacher.[/i]" Following the sound of his voice, Xavier found Kurt sitting beside a river, looking down into the running water as it went by. His hands and feet were bleeding badly, as if the wounds were freshly made. When Kurt turned his head to look at Xavier, his head was bleeding badly from the barbed wire crown.  
  
"[i]Why did you come here, teacher?[/i]" he asked softly in his native tongue. "[i]I'm fine right where I am.[/i]"  
  
"You're not fine, Kurt. Your body is going to die if you don't come back with me." Xavier said, sitting down beside him.  
  
"[i]Would that really be so bad?[/i]" Kurt asked as he looked down at his hands and feet. Xavier looked at Kurt in surprise, cocking an eyebrow slightly.  
  
"This isn't like you, Kurt." He said. "You're not the kind of person to contemplate suicide like this."  
  
"[i]I know[/i]" Kurt nodded. "[i]When Jean showed me what happened; it got me thinking about a lot of things.[/i]"  
  
"Kurt..."  
  
"[i]What if another death IS required to absolve our sins?[/i]" Kurt asked, looking at him, seriously upset about the idea.  
  
"Kurt, I don't have the answer to that." Xavier said. "All I know is that we need to get back before we're both dead."  
  
"[i]Teacher, just go.[/i]" Kurt said. "[i]I am staying here.[/i]"  
  
"What could you possibly gain by staying here and dying?" Xavier asked seriously.  
  
"[i]I don't know![/i]" Kurt screamed suddenly, his tail flicking angrily to one side. "[i]All I know is that I'm confused about a lot of things and maybe if I died I would get the answers to my questions! You don't know what it's like, teacher; having your faith twisted up like this in just one day. I feel like I'm being all twisted up inside somehow. Everything gets so hard sometimes for me.[/i]"  
  
"If you come back with me, I will be able to help you." Xavier promised. "Everyone is really worried about you, Kurt."  
  
"[i]Are they?[/i]" Kurt asked, raising his eyebrows slightly in surprise. Xavier nodded, smiling a bit.  
  
"Logan has become a guard dog beside your door, watching over you day and night to see if you improve or not!" he said with a soft laugh. Kurt looked away, thinking about it slowly.  
  
"[i]You promise to help me with this, teacher?[/i]" he asked softly. "[i]You will not forget about this?[/i]  
  
"I promise." Xavier nodded, holding out his hand. Kurt looked at Xavier's hand, his tail curling up slightly in curiosity. He looked up at the man who had saved his life back in Germany and he smiled faintly, taking his hand in his just like he did back in Germany outside of Winzledorf.  
  
Light erupted everywhere, and Kurt's mind went back into his body, making his tail tremble slightly before it began to sway lazily into life. ***  
Xavier opened his eyes slowly. Looking down at himself, Xavier realized how close he had been to drowning. From his upper chest down he was soaked in water. If he had taken any longer he might have died along with Kurt.  
  
Looking at Kurt, he smiled and gently removed his hand from his brow as Kurt groaned softly and started to wake.  
  
Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Xavier with dizzy eyes. When his vision got better, he smiled faintly at him.  
  
"[i]Good morning, teacher.[/i]" he mumbled.  
  
"I meant what I said, Kurt." Xavier said. "I will help you as best as I can." Slowly Kurt raised up a hand and Xavier took it, smiling at him as he gave it a gentle squeeze.  
  
"[i]I thank you, teacher.[/i]" Kurt said.  
  
"Do you feel up for some visits?" Xavier asked.  
  
"Oh, yes." Kurt said, sitting up slowly, his tail flicking in faint excitement. "I cannot wait to see everyone again!"  
  
Everyone came in to see him, and Kurt couldn't help but smile as he found himself surrounded by people who really cared about him. 


End file.
